The Quincy
by Kuroi-cho-tsuki-shiro
Summary: Ichigo and Rukia discover that there is someone else in Karakura ridding the suburb of hollows. A series of shorts based on the story of Bleach from Rukia's point of view. 10
1. Chapter 1

The principal's office was a bright, clean room, dominated by a heavy oak desk and by the man who sat behind it, whose greying, whiskered face was folded into a deep frown. Behind him, a screen on the wall was looping a short video, recorded from the television the night before. The same video had been posted on the net and a link to it was being passed around the students by means of text messages and word of mouth. Overnight, Ichigo had become a star of sorts. More specifically, of the wrong sort.

"How do you think this makes the school look?" demanded the principal, pointing a trembling finger at the screen. On it, Ichigo was shown hurdling a railing and sprinting towards Don Kanonji before being set upon and wrestled to the ground by seven security guards. It started to loop again. To Rukia, it seemed that, with each replay, Ichigo's expression as he was dragged to the ground became more humorous. She was having difficulty taking the principal's rage seriously and glanced around at the rest of the group who had been called into the office to see if they, too, were having the same problem. There were two girls, Orihime and Tatsuki, both friends of Ichigo's. And four boys: Ichigo, Chad, Asano and Mizuiro. Of these, only Asano and Mizuiro seemed able to see the funny side of the situation and were watching the screen with bright, smiling faces. Ichigo was sulking, his head down and his hands in his pockets. "What do you have to say for yourselves?" asked the principal.

It was Tatsuki who spoke up:

"_Sensei, _why have we been called in here?"

"Look at the video!"

"I know, but Inoue and I were nowhere near Ichigo when that video was taken. I went to the show with my parents and Orihime came with me. We had nothing to do with this." She paused to let her words sink in and, when it was clear that the principal had no useful response, she took Orihime by the hand: "We'll just be on our way then."

Orihime flushed and bowed:

"Thank you, _Sensei," _she squeaked before being led away by Tatsuki. Rukia was suddenly the only female in the room. To her left, Asano grinned sheepishly:

"To be honest, it was just the same for us. Mizuiro and I went along separately. We weren't involved." He started to back away, but the principal lurched out of his chair and grasped the teenager's shoulder:

"You're friends with Kurosaki," he said: "And guilty by association."

"Oh, come on!"

"Shut up, Asano. Now" – he paced past the five of them and then back again, eyeballing each in turn: "What do you have to say for yourselves?"

While they had been speaking, an idea had occurred to Rukia. On cue, she let out a wail of despair:

"I tried to stop him! I tried! But he wouldn't listen to me and he climbed over the barrier, and – and" – She let the words trail off, hunched her shoulders and gave an almighty sob. The principal was suddenly there beside her, pressing a hankerchief into her hand:

"There, there, Kuchiki-_san. _It wasn't your fault."

"I didn't mean to, but he wouldn't listen!"

Luckily, the boys had recognised her ruse and, while the principal's back was turned, had sidled across the room to an open window. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched them help each other out of the office.

The principal realised what had happened an instant later, but, as he rushed towards the window, Rukia took off in the other direction, making a break for the door. She ran out into a deserted corridor and, a few minutes later, met up with Ichigo and his friends on the other side of the playground.

"What the hell were you doing back there, Rukia?" Ichigo asked when he saw her smug expression. Asano interrupted him:

"Hey, Ichigo! Rukia got us out of a fix. You should be grateful."

"Yes, be grateful, Kurosaki-_kun," _she said, smiling sweetly: "It's called A.C.T.I.N.G."

"You were amazing, Kuchiki-_san," _said Mizuiro. They had been joined by Tatsuki and Orihime who listened, rapt, as Mizuiro described what had happened. Rukia let the conversation drift over her. This was her favourite part of the day: her time at the school. The lessons kept her busy; the endless bustle of conversation; the sense of being part of something larger than herself; and the familiar faces she had grown used to seeing every day. She stiffened as the hollow detector in her bag began beeping shrilly.

There was nothing for it. She grabbed Ichigo's arm and pulled him away from the group.

"Hey, Rukia!" he complained.

"We have to be somewhere!" Then, remembering herself, she turned and curtseyed, mid-step, to the rest of them, offering them her most dazzling smile: "We'll see you later, everyone!"

And then she was dragging Ichigo off towards the school gates. She had just enough time to hear Orihime's quiet comment to the rest of the group:

"Kuchiki-_san _is quite forward, isn't she?"


	2. Chapter 2

It didn't matter what they thought. She knew that. And if she put a foot wrong now and again, well, it didn't change anything. She believed that. She truly did. This wasn't her world, and she had no business with these humans. Yet still, her mood had soured by the time they reached the site of the hollow attack. And it soured still further as she stared out across an empty tract of grass to the trees beyond. She checked the hollow detector:

"It's gone."

Ichigo scowled:

"Gone? How could it be gone? Are you sure that thing of yours is working properly?"

"Maybe I need to change the battery." She didn't relish the idea of another trip to Urahara's shop, but nor did she want to test Ichigo's moods still further.

"Let's get back to class before they notice we're gone," he said, shunting his hands into his pockets and turning his back on her.


	3. Chapter 3

Rukia skipped lessons that afternoon. In a quiet corner of the playground she disassembled and reassembled the hollow detector, hoping to find a flaw or a loose connection. It was the third time this week that it had given a false signal. Much as she dreaded it, a trip to Urahara's shop was preferable to the alternative: the possibility that something else, or someone else, was cleansing the hollows in the area. Another _shinigami _could mean only one thing: that it was common knowledge that Rukia Kuchiki was missing in action. That being the case, it could only be a matter of time before they sent out a search party. How much longer could she stay hidden?

She couldn't reach Urahara on the phone. She propped the detector up against the corrugated wall of one of the bike sheds and stepped away from it. It was late July now and hot even in the shade. Her legs were cramped from crouching on the ground, tinkering with the wretched thing, and her eyes were stinging with perspiration. She stretched and rolled back her shoulders:

"Urahara, you sell me junk," she told the small device and, as if in response, it started to beep. "Shit."


	4. Chapter 4

**_Author's Note: I will be out of the country for two weeks now. Although I am going to be able to upload, I will not see any messages or reviews and will not be able to read and review back. I am a little behind on my reviews, so please bear with me. So many thanks to: Shadewolf7, Truantpony, ForbiddenME, Pinky357, Immortalvows, Chellythemadhatter, Insomniatic95 and Sallythedestroyerofworlds23 for sticking with me, reading and reviewing. Especially Truant and Sally for all the reviews. Thanks also to anyone who is reading on the quiet. Please do review, let me know you're out there. Now, on with the story..._**

The same story. Again.

The alleyway where they now stood ran between two abandoned tower blocks, which together left only a sliver of blue sky far above them. Flies and gnats hung in silken clouds that buzzed lazily through the shadows. To any watchful human eyes, Rukia would have seemed out of place: a lone schoolgirl, marching purposefully down the deserted lane only to stop at a dead end and turn on her heel with a scowl. She stalked back to the mouth of the alley and planted her hands on her hips.

She, of course, was seeing something else entirely.

Cowering at the base of a dumpster was the ghost of an overweight, moustachioed man. He was beside himself with terror: a fact which confirmed Rukia's darkest suspicions. A hollow had been here. And now it was gone. And that meant someone else had dispatched it.

Ichigo was trying to get information from the spirit, but without much success. The dead man, who might have been alone for days, months or even years before the arrival of the hollow, was clearly overwhelmed by their presence. Though he was wailing about the monster, his eyes betrayed a more immediate fear: of the man dressed in black now standing over him brandishing a sword as long as he was tall. Ichigo hadn't bothered to sheath the _zanpakuto, _but was resting it over his shoulders, barking questions at the unfortunate ghost. Reassurance, Rukia decided, did not come naturally to the human boy. He strutted over to her with an air of casual menace:

"You try."

The spirit seemed grateful that Ichigo was to be replaced by the school-girl. Before Rukia could manage so much as a tell-me-what-you-saw, he had reached out for her in desperation and she felt one cool, insubstantial hand close around her leg. "Hey!" snarled Ichigo. Stepping between them, he kicked away the spirit's hand and brought the pommel of his sword down onto its forehead. Rukia closed her eyes as the _knonso _took effect, but, even with them shut, she was still aware of the bright blue light that engulfed the unfortunate soul before it crossed over. When Ichigo spoke again, his voice was softer: "Let's go home, Rukia."

She followed him back to where they had sequestered his body. In such a deserted part of town, it was safe enough to stow it behind some bins. Unlike Ichigo, Rukia felt no sentimental attachment to a human body. Her partner, however, was only reluctantly coming to terms with seeing himself as a corpse. He screwed up his face as she dragged his lifeless figure into the road, then stepped forward, back into his skin. Rukia let go of it the moment it became animate and Ichigo doubled over, coughing, as his lungs began to breathe again: "I think there's something wrong with your phone," he said, between gasps.

"There's nothing wrong with it."

"It keeps telling us there are hollows when there are none!"

"Well, there's none here now" –

"Kurosaki Ichigo." They both looked up at the voice. A boy was standing before them. He was dressed in school uniform, grey trousers and a white shirt. Unlike Ichigo, though, his demeanour was one of elegance and care. His black hair hung on either side of his face, a symmetric frame for pale skin and black, bullet-like eyes. He was taller than Ichigo, but willowy, and he wore wire-framed glasses on the tip of his nose. He looked like the kind of student who would never start fights, would work long hours and still have time to do the chores. He looked like everything Ichigo was not and yet, despite this, there was both familiarity and contempt in his eyes: "You won't find any hollows here." Ichigo stared. "Oh yes, I know all about you, Kurosaki Ichigo. I know what Kuchiki Rukia is. I know she arrived here in April and transferred her powers to you. I make it my business to know."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Uryu Ishida and I'm a quincy."

All three of them turned as somewhere, close by, a hollow screamed. When Rukia looked back, Ishida's poise had changed. He reached out with one hand and light spread out from his palm. Not _kido. _No, she had never seen a technique like this. As she watched, it arced out of his palm and formed the shape of a long-bow between his hands. He squinted down the shaft of an arrow made of blue fire. And loosed it over their heads. Rukia followed its course through the heavy afternoon air. A hundred metres from where they stood, it struck a hollow that was taking flight.

The creature disintegrated. There was no cascade of blue light, no embers cast up from the attack. It simply disappeared, as if it had always been an illusion to begin with. Rukia shivered. Never had she seen a hollow dispatched by a weapon other than a _zanpakuto_ and, for all those she had defeated, she had watched them cleansed by the bright blue light of the other world. Something was wrong. She was sure of that. "I'm a quincy," the boy said again: "And I hate soul reapers." And, with that, he turned his back on them.


	5. Chapter 5

Quincy. She had never heard the word before, but it troubled her on two levels to know there was someone else in Karakura seeking out hollows. Officially, she was still responsible for this town. As far as she was aware the Thirteen Court Guard Squads had, as yet, taken no steps to replace her. This quincy, then, was trespassing on her work, but a more pressing concern was the question of who or what he was. Did he have a connection to the other world? He had made it clear that he was not an ally, so was he an enemy, and was he capable of reporting her?

She had known for so long that it would end this way, that every moment she spent with Ichigo put him in greater danger. So why was she still unwilling to leave? The quincy was just another fracture in the subtle layer of glass she'd lain across the truth. Just one more rupture and she felt sure it would break into manifold pieces.

"Quincy." Urahara gazed at her from over the rim of a steaming cup of tea. As much as it pained her to ask him for help, he was still the best source of information in a hundred mile radius: "I haven't heard that term in a long time."

"But you have heard it."

"Yes." He frowned: "It's a rather shameful episode in the history of the soul reapers. The quincies were a clan of humans with strong spiritual powers that allowed them to see hollows. They developed techniques for fighting these demons and they were at least as effective as the _shinigami."_

"They were?"

"Yes. Kuchiki-_dono, _you understand of course that the soul reapers are balancers. It is the responsibility of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, the _Gotei _Thirteen, to maintain the balance of souls between the living and the dead. When a hollow is cleansed by a _zanpakuto, _its spirit returns to Soul Society. However, when a hollow is dispatched by a quincy's bow, the soul itself is destroyed. The _shinigami _soon realised the danger, that if the quincy were allowed to continue hunting hollows, then the balance would be lost altogether. The result would be the obliteration of both worlds." He paused to set down his tea: "There was a war. The quincies fought long and hard, but, in the end, they could not stand against Soul Society. They were wiped out. Every last one of them."

The hollow detector in Rukia's pocket began to chirp and she picked it up, blinking at the screen like someone waking from a dream. The device had located another hollow. So many in one day, she thought. It disappeared. Another materialised and was gone almost as soon as it had registered on the screen. They had both been in the same area: near the school where she had left Ichigo that afternoon. She felt a flush of pride:

"Ah, Ichigo is getting good." But no sooner were the words out of her mouth than the detector began to vibrate and chirp again. Another hollow. And another.

Another.

Another, another, and another.

Her lips parted as the screen filled up with points of light, each one representing a hollow on the grid of the city. Ten, twenty, fifty. She didn't feel herself stand or take the first step towards the door. She only knew that her heart had clenched tight in her chest and that her body was cold. This body she wore; cold like ice. Another, another and another. Enough to destroy him ten times over.


	6. Chapter 6

**If you enjoyed this story, please check my profile page for the next in the series . It lists them in order so you shouldn't have any trouble finding them. Thanks!**


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